Chopped Liver – I Walk The Line

So the major news story of the day is ex-footballer and footy-presenter (not good enough to be an ex-footballer) making sexist remarks thinking they were off mike – when in fact they were not only still miked, but being recorded by some, presumably invisible, person with a mobile phone.

Eh, DUH?

What do you expect? Footballers – especially ex-footballers (i.e. those who played football for a living before it was a lucrative thing to do) are generally a pretty thick bunch.

Except if you’re current footballer, Clarke Carlisle, of course, who seems to be making a name for himself for being, not necessarily the averagely good footballer he is (but who most people have never heard of) but a man not short of educational qualifications, allied to a victory in The Weakest Link and now an appearance on BBC Question Time where everyone thinks he did remarkably well. Although if you really analyse his performance you will have noticed that all of his answers were analogous to football, and the only reasons he came across so well were that a) nobody expected much from him and b) he wasn’t affiliated to any party.

But he is the exception that proves the rule, is he not?

The Offside rule explained - "Simples"

And so back to today’s debate. The bit I can’t get is – football fans spend every waking hour complaining about what they perceived to be poor refereeing decisions – by male referees. Along comes this female assistant referee who gets a very close call absolutely right – and she is castigated (oo-er, missus) for not knowing the rules!

Or rather, castigated for being female.

Apparently the commentators are being reported to OfCom – I think they should be reported to Offside – the body that teaches silly men the offside rule.

Tomorrow’s topic: Does anyone – man or woman, footballer or ex-footballer, FIFA member of street-cleaner really know the offside rule as it exists today?

Not rhetorical. The answer is clearly No.

Would there be anyone, male or female, able to practise this law, even they thought they knew it? No

Is there still anyone out there who really cares either way? Answer : A diminishing number.